6:48pm, apartment, Chandler, Arizona, Thursday night, March 3, 2022. Today was the second day of parent/teacher conferences at my daughters school. It is always interesting at these things to hear about a version of your child different than you expect. All the instructors mentioned her confidence, leadership and focus. Attributes, frankly, I feared she lacked. I brought that up on one of the calls and asked the teacher to explain why I didn’t easily see those traits in her. The teacher replied home is often the place where kids get to relax, so we, as parents, don’t always see a true version of their public persona. She assured me our daughter displays all those traits and more. What’s more, she is a thoughtful wonderful person who is well on her way to becoming an amazing woman. That made me happy to hear. I can honestly say I am very proud parent tonight.
Draining
6:07pm, apartment, Chandler, Arizona, Wednesday evening, March 2, 2022. The employee quit before we could share a corrective action plan. The resignation was a blessing because her performance was detrimental to the team and it meant we didn’t need to draw out the process any longer. After that I presented financials to the regional team. The day has been draining. I am ready to just go to bed and fall asleep.
Curl up in a ball
6:14pm, apartment, Chandler, Arizona, Tuesday evening, March 1, 2022. Last night I woke up in a panic, thinking about issues with billing for the prior month. The problem seems somewhat resolved but operations review is tomorrow afternoon. There is no way it will end up well. Some days I want to just curl up in a ball and hide from the world.
Bad mouthing me
6:41pm, apartment, Chandler, Arizona, Monday night, February 28, 2022. Today was alright. I had a little too much wine after dinner last night so the time went slow. There was no painful hangover but my energy was lacking. There is a lot of stress on the team right now, myself included. The time has come to address the performance of a key team member. We have to make a change in that position in order to be profitable. I am not used to that aspect of the job. I have helped move people out that have bad attitudes, but not someone simply because they aren’t good at their job. She has been bad mouthing me behind my back though, so it won’t be that hard.
Sipping a beverage on a Sunday
5:30pm, apartment, Chandler, Arizona, Sunday evening, February 27, 2022. Made it back to Arizona after a weekend in California. Did the usual morning walk followed by coffee. After my daughter woke up we watched more anime before I left at 10:30am. Traffic wasn’t too bad so I got in at a decent hour. Now I am listening to John Prine and sipping a beverage.
I like driving
8:55am, palm desert, California, Saturday morning, February 26, 2022. Stopped in palm desert on my way to Orange County. This will be the third weekend in a row I visit my daughter. Which makes me happy. I can’t see many reasons to stay in Arizona if I don’t have to. It gets lonely in my apartment, there is nothing to do and besides, I like driving.
Friday news
5:35pm, apartment, Chandler, Arizona, Friday evening, February 25, 2022. No update from Orange County on the Wednesday job interview. Absolutely none. I expected something, either good or bad. This morning on our stand-up call I announced the news about the long time employee being let go yesterday. I did not get verbal feedback, but the silence afterwards said a lot. Today was busy. Good busy. It feels like my team is coming together. Census is trending in the right direction and we got a new referral this afternoon. Tomorrow I will go to Southern California to spend time with my daughter. I need to shop a little first, then we can settle in for a night of pizza and movies. I am going to eat dinner, stream some shows then go to bed.
Getting fired sucks
7:12pm, apartment, Chandler, Arizona, Thursday night, February 24, 2022. Did not hear back from the Orange County interview and don’t really expect to. In hindsight it was a pretty disappointing experience. Usually when a company flies a candidate in for an interview an offer follows. I expected more for having cleared a whole day to meet with them. I imagined a full itinerary. First, a sit down meeting to discuss more specifics details, followed by nice lunch and possibly a drive East to to the other location. Instead I was one of three tightly stacked in person interviews. They even said they had another phone interview! Weird. I guess every situation is unique, they can do what they want. On another note, the company I am with now fired our longest tenured employee today. Only a couple of people know and they are devastated. Morale will be low for the next couple days. I called him after work and we had a good talk. Nice guy. He has a lot going for him and it was time for a change. But still, getting fired sucks.
Not exciting or different
6:27pm, back of an airplane, Phoenix, Arizona, Wednesday evening, February 23, 2022. Interview went fine but didn’t last very long. I was late because of flight delays and they had a meeting right after me. Just before I arrived an issue at work blew up so I was more invested in that than the questions. We did have a chance to talk salary; there is a chance for more money but the job and company don’t seem all that exciting. Or different.
Free trip home
9:18am, airport in Phoenix, Wednesday morning, February 23, 2022. Waiting for my flight to Orange County, which has been slightly delayed. The interview is supposed to be at 10:30 but will have to be pushed back. The guy arranging my travel said they have back to back meetings so the interview won’t last long. At least I get a free trip home out of the experience.
